A group battling to save a much-loved community market has moved a step closer.

Seven Sisters Indoor Market, next to Seven Sisters tube station at Wards Corner, has been home to traders mainly from Latin, Caribbean and African backgrounds since 1985 – earning it the name ‘Latin Village’.

Community groups have fought for years to keep the market running in the face of plans to build homes on the site.

Wards Corner Community Plan, a community benefit society set up in 2022, is now in talks with landowner Places for London, Transport for London’s property arm, to obtain the lease for the market and start restoration.

Santiago Cordoso, the community plan’s general manager, said TfL and Haringey Council’s agreement to go ahead with a community-led initiative instead of developer Grainger’s thwarted flats bid opened the door.

He said: “We are trying to prove there are different ways of achieving things because this is not motivated by profit.”

Plans include restoring the market stalls with affordable rents, and offices and space for community activities, reading groups, childcare facilities, restaurants and more.

“Of course this has to be financially sustainable,” Santiago said. “We need to have some profit to reinvest, but the end goal is not to say ‘20% growth every quarter’ it’s about trying to shape and shift this mindset.”

The plan has submitted an expression of interest to TfL and is in a “favourable position” as the only bidder.

But Elena Escalante, communities and communications manager, says surveys revealed asbestos and structural problems.

The building closed in 2021, with plans for a temporary market announced in 2023 “massively delayed”.

Despite this, Elena said they are "optimistic" and is appealing for volunteers and traders to get involved. 

She said: “When me and Santiago arrived [three months ago] morale was low, there have been a few meetings this year, quite serious, and I felt the need to celebrate what we’ve done so far.”

The CBS is today (August 28) holding a ‘Summer Fiesta’ at The Post Bar in Tottenham High Road.

Haringey Council deputy leader Cllr Sarah Williams said it is keen to bring traders back to Wards Corner, saying it is "vital" that it is driven by the community.

Visit https://wardscorner.org/ for more information about Wards Corner Community Plan.